


Cold Fire

by resonae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Forced Abortion, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Superpowers, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 12:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1687574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resonae/pseuds/resonae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We’ll make the world conform around us. Screw its original rules.”</p><p>Kris laughed. “I don’t know if that’s how it works.”</p><p>Sehun leaned back, agreeing with Chanyeol for the first time. “That’s how it’ll work for us.” </p><p>-</p><p>In a world where superhumans and humans are constantly at war, Sehun finds a superhuman deep inside a human base, more dead than alive, with fire powers that doesn't burn. </p><p>That's just the beginning of Sehun's, Chanyeol's and Kris' story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Fire

**Author's Note:**

> I know. Maybe it's not the best time to post something like this, but I couldn't help myself. I kept writing and writing, probably to ease some of my heartache at what was happening, and this happened.

“So, we got a new guy.” Baekhyun said, leaning on the door frame and grinning. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at him. Baekhyun continued, “Sehun found him when he went on that raid yesterday. He’s kiiiiind of like you.”

 

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. “What does that even mean?”

 

Baekhyun shrugged. “You know, like. He’s got fiery powers. Except his fire doesn’t really burn. It’s – well, you’ll see. Come on, Suho’s calling all of us.”

 

Chanyeol blinked, bewildered. What kind of use did fire that didn’t _burn_ have?

 

\--

  
When Chanyeol got to the common area, he didn’t see anyone new. “I thought someone new was here,” he told Suho, dropping down onto the floor.

 

“He is. I’ll let you know more once everyone gets here.” Suho was frowning, looking deeply pissed and concerned at the same time. Chanyeol frowned – the last time Suho looked like that was when Kyungsoo had ended up with his entire left arm almost cut off. Yixing had got to him in time, but then overusing his powers had made both Yixing _and_ Kyungsoo bedridden for days afterward.

 

The room filled up quickly. Sehun remained standing, and Chanyeol noticed his arm was bandaged from his left elbow to shoulder. Chanyeol frowned. Sehun not being healed from his raid meant Yixing was working on someone else and he didn’t have room to spare power for anyone else. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that _someone else_ was the new guy. Sehun had the same face Suho had, except his scowl was deeper.

 

“You all know Sehun went on a raid yesterday to the enemy base.” There was a small murmur of recognition. “He was going in to do intel gathering, but instead he found someone locked up in their basement. Whoever he is, we don’t know his name yet, but it’s clear he’d been tortured for a long, long time. He has some sort of fire based powers,“ Suho glanced at Chanyeol, “and Sehun found him submerged completely in water. We don’t know how he was kept from drowning – powers probably had something to do with it – but he wasn’t allowed to breathe that much, either.”

 

Chanyeol shuddered. He’d been tortured like that before – dunked over and over in water. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

 

Suho continued, “Sehun found electrical torture devices connected to the tank. Yixing confirmed he’d been electrically tortured, too. He’s got bruises, cuts, welts, broken bones – you name it. He’s been tortured for a long time.”

 

“I thought he was dead.” Sehun nodded, eyes dark. “It was pretty bad.”

 

Suho cleared his throat. “Now I’ve got something Yixing just figured out. Sehun, you don’t know this either, but…” He faltered, cleared his throat, and started again. “He’s been raped multiple times.” There was a horrified silence. “And Yixing says he’s pregnant.”

 

\--

 

Male pregnancy was rare, but not unheard of. The twist in their genes that gave them superhuman powers also apparently gave them a chance of getting pregnant – meaning they produced eggs like women did. But all the same, as biological males, they lacked the equipment – such as a uterus – for it to actually happen.

 

But sometimes, that twist in the gene also gave males the right equipment. And apparently fate had been cruel to whoever this man was.

 

Suho had suggested Chanyeol go visit him since he had fire powers. “He won’t talk to us, but he keeps trying to activate whatever he has. We can’t tell what it is. Yixing thinks that being submerged in water for so long’s damped his powers down, but whatever he keeps trying to do, it keeps spluttering out.”

 

The guy looked horrible, and that was putting it lightly. Yixing was absolutely forbidden by Suho to overuse his powers again, so he was going slowly and using just regular medicine to patch him up. Chanyeol thought the guy was more bandages than person. “This is Chanyeol,” Yixing told the man. “He’s got fire-based powers, so Suho thinks he could help.”

 

At the mention of fire, the man looked sharply up at him. Everything about the man was sharp – his features, his eyes, his gaze. He was tall – it didn’t take a genius to realize that – but he was so starved that he looked incredibly frail and small.

 

“Go rest, Yixing,” Chanyeol said, cupping his elbow. “You look like you’re gonna pass out. Suho _told_ you not to overdo it.”

 

“I’m fine,” Yixing said, even though he looked as white as paper. But Chanyeol glared firmly until Yixing shook his head exasperatedly and left the hospital wing.

 

Chanyeol pulled a chair up. “So, uh, I’m Chanyeol.” No response, just an eerie glare. Chanyeol cleared his throat and offered a hesitant smile. “Baekhyun told me that your fire, uh, doesn’t burn?”

 

The man flinched and his eyes widened. Chanyeol suddenly realized he might not know who Baekhyun was, and that Baekhyun might have heard from Yixing or Suho or Sehun. Great. “Uh, he’s the guy with the light. His hands kind of shine really bright.” It was a really bad dumbing down of Baekhyun’s powers, but he didn’t think the guy would feel good hearing about how Baekhyun’s beams of light could burn holes straight through steel.

 

Chanyeol spent the rest of the time babbling about the other members of their little band. After the atomic warfare, children started getting born with genetic anomalies – except these weren’t physical deformities. They were superpowers. Soon enough, those with superhuman powers were shunned and locked away until they finally organized an uprising. And now there was war.

 

Suho had water-based powers, Minseok had ice-based powers, and Luhan had telekinesis. Baekhyun had light-based powers, Yixing could heal, and Jongdae had electricity-based powers. Kyungsoo controlled the earth beneath their feet, Zitao could stop time, Jongin could teleport, and Sehun had wind-based powers. He himself had fire-based powers.

 

Oh. _Fire_. Right. “Oh. Uh, sorry. You probably just wanted to see my fire.” He raised his hand and let a soft glow shoot out of it. The man reached for it, and Chanyeol pulled back. “Hang on. My fire burns. I don’t want you to get even more hurt.” He snuffed the flame out. “Sorry. I haven’t – It doesn’t burn me, but I haven’t figured out how to make it so that I don’t burn people I don’t want to burn.”

 

“Show me again,” the man insisted, and Chanyeol almost jumped out of his seat. “It won’t burn me.”

 

“You – you _can_ talk. I mean. I guess you could, but you haven’t- What’s your name?”

 

The man reached over. “Your fire. Please.”

 

Chanyeol opened his palms again, almost mesmerized. He didn’t know why, but he let his fire ignite again, and the man pushed his hand into it. Chanyeol flinched back, but the man followed him, falling forward. “Whoa, whoa.” Chanyeol reached out instinctively to wrap his arms to stop the fall. The IV ended up yanking and blood shot up the tube, so Chanyeol pressed his thumb to it and yanked the needle out. “Hey, hey. Calm down.” He scooted up so he could seat the man back up on the bed and curled his arm around him. He opened his free palm again to spark a small flame in his hand again. “Here.”

 

The man pushed a trembling hand into it. As far as Chanyeol could tell, it wasn’t burning him. He scooped his hands in Chanyeol’s, like he was the one producing it, and slumped into Chanyeol’s embrace. “Kris,” he murmured. Chanyeol started. “The name’s Kris.”

 

\--

 

“The only thing I found out was that my fire doesn’t burn him.” He told Baekhyun, later that night, telling him the story. “ _And_ I had to wake Yixing up so he could redo the IV. Luhan wasn’t too happy about that.”

 

Baekhyun twisted in bed. “Your fire doesn’t burn him?” Baekhyun repeated, eyes wide. “Is it also because he’s fire, or do you think he’s just special?”

 

Chanyeol blinked up to the ceiling. He could still feel Kris’ hand in his flame, Kris’ hand just resting in his own, cupping the flame as if it were his own. “I don’t know. He fell asleep.”

 

\--

 

The next day when Chanyeol visited Kris, he found Sehun already in the hospital room. The room, like the rest of their base, was completely underground, but there was a pleasant breeze floating through it. Sehun’s work, no doubt. Kris looked like he was asleep, and Sehun was reading to him, his voice soft in the quiet room.

 

Chanyeol walked in anyway, fighting down the pang of _something_ in his stomach. Kris opened his eyes when Chanyeol pulled out a chair. Sehun raised an eyebrow in his direction but didn’t stop reading. Chanyeol dropped his eyes to see what book. _Crime and Punishment_.

 

Sehun placed a bookmark and closed it, apparently at the end of whatever he had planned for the day. “Chanyeol,” he greeted, nodding a little. His smile was tense and the warm breeze faltered for a bit, but when Kris looked up, Sehun’s smile warmed and the breeze floated by pleasantly again. Sehun’s gaze floated pointedly to the bruise that had spread to an ugly purple thing that covered almost all of Kris’ inner elbow. Chanyeol suddenly felt guilty even though the IV yanking out hadn’t been his fault. “Be more careful, next time. He has to heal, not injure himself more.”

 

“You’re leaving?” Chanyeol asked, when Sehun stood.

 

“Yes. I’ve things to look into with Jongdae.” He placed the book on the bedside table. “Yixing’s resting again. Zitao had to literally yank him into his room again, so don’t cause any more commotions.” He was looking directly at Chanyeol, and Chanyeol scowled.

 

“The IV thing wasn’t my fault.”

 

Sehun raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say it was.” He sounded smugly amused.

 

Great. He’d fallen right into that trap. Chanyeol watched sullenly as Sehun waved, closing the door to the infirmary gently behind him. The breeze stayed, which Chanyeol was surprised by. Kris’ blonde bangs swayed lightly in the wind, and Chanyeol opened his palm again.

 

He let his fire burst in his palm and Kris leaned forward, reaching his hand out again. Chanyeol scooted closer, the angry pang in his stomach intensifying when Kris’ hair swayed again. “Ow,” Kris said, jerking his hand back. “That’s… Are you mad?”

 

Chanyeol blinked, surprised. “Huh?”

 

“Are you mad?” Kris repeated, reaching his hand out again. He slid his hands into the fire again. “It’s hot.” Chanyeol frowned, confused, until he realized Kris’ hands were turning a bright red.

 

“Holy sh-“ Chanyeol extinguished the fire right away, examining the hand. “Is your sense of pain just – twisted? Why would you leave your hand in there if it’s too hot?”

 

Before Kris could say anything, Chanyeol was out the door yelling for Yixing again.

 

\--

 

“I heard you’re banned from seeing Kris for a while.” Baekhyun said, sliding the door to their shared room open. Chanyeol didn’t look up from his face-down position on the bed. “Luhan was _super_ mad.”

 

Chanyeol spoke into his pillow. “Do you think he has a higher pain tolerance than we do?”

 

Baekhyun didn’t respond for a while. He sat down by Chanyeol’s bed – he could tell by the sinking of the mattress. He finally said, “Well. Yes. I was checking in to make sure Yixing was okay, and he almost fell off his bed when he saw me. His heart rate was hammering. Yixing made me get out. He tolerates Suho, and I can tell he’s grateful for what Yixing does for him, but he only talks to you and Sehun. Obviously it’s because Sehun’s the one who rescued him. And you because you share similar powers. Did you ever find out what his was, by the way?”

 

Chanyeol shook his head, his face buried in the pillow. The friction burned.

 

Baekhyun sighed. “Yixing told me that some of his wounds, they look like they’ve been there a long, long time. Like they were inflicted when he was a child, scarred over, and had enough time to heal so that the scar marks faded out. A lot of his bones were broken and weren’t set right, so Yixing had to take time to find them all so he could heal them properly. If we didn’t have Yixing, even if Sehun found him, he would have died, I think. Yixing thinks he’s been tortured for almost all of his life. It’s obvious his pain tolerance is greater than ours, even if we get our own share of injuries.”

 

“That’s not a good thing.”

 

“No,” Baekhyun agreed sadly. “It’s not.”

 

\--

 

“He wants to see you again,” Luhan told Chanyeol, looking a little angry. “He said it was his fault, not yours. But _Chanyeol_. Remember Yixing’s already being pushed to his limits here. And Kris – we can’t exactly blame him for anything right now. You’ve got to be careful.”

 

Chanyeol left his lunch tray where it was and ran straight to the infirmary. Of _course_ he’d find Sehun there, reading out loud and glaring at Chanyeol when he appeared, but he ignored it and took Kris’ hands. Kris startled but relaxed when he saw who it was.

 

Kris’ hands were no longer an angry, burned red. Yixing had taken care of it. Chanyeol almost crumbled in relief. Sehun regarded him coolly, no longer reading. Kris looked up at him. “That’s it for today, I think,” Sehun said, smiling softly. “I’m going to talk to Chanyeol for a second.”

 

Chanyeol was pushed out by an angry gust of wind. When he got out and the door closed, he was awarded with a sharp gust of wind that slammed him to the ground. “I told you to be careful,” Sehun said, voice sharp. Before Chanyeol could say anything, the frigid blasts of wind had settled to a warm breeze again and Sehun was already turning around.

 

Kris said nothing when Chanyeol sat, rubbing at his back. “I’m sorry. I talked to the healer.”

 

“Yixing.” Chanyeol said, a little sharper than he meant to. “His name is Yixing.”

 

Kris bowed his head, thumbing his bandages absently. Chanyeol sighed. He fumbled with his flame, making them swirl around his fingers and create the small version of his trademark phoenix. He was aware Kris was watching, so he let the phoenix flutter out of his hands. “Y-you’re the phoenix.”

 

Chanyeol blinked. “Uh. Yes? That’s what some people call me, I guess.”

 

Kris watched the phoenix – more like a butterfly, in its size now – flutter around him. He reached a hand out and Chanyeol hesitated, remembering the angrily burnt skin, but Kris was leaning forward again, so he let the wisp of fire land on his finger. “They tried to use me to fight against you.” Kris said, after a while, watching the phoenix rest on his hand. “But my fire doesn’t burn. When they figured that out, they tried to make it so that it would.” Kris leaned forward so he could hand Chanyeol the flame back.

 

Chanyeol froze, snuffing out the phoenix. “Is that why they… tortured you?”

 

Kris shook his head. “No. That was because of… because of this.” He rubbed his stomach. “They got some kick out of –“ He swallowed, shivered, and hugged his stomach. “Of making me pregnant and then torturing me enough to make me miscarry. It – it happened a lot of times.”

 

Chanyeol shot up from the seat, horrified. Kris flinched, and Chanyeol debated getting on the bed, to hold him like he had the first night, but he instead pulled his chair closer. He leaned forward. “May I?”

 

Kris didn’t say anything when Chanyeol lifted his shirt. Jagged, angry scars ran from below Kris’ sternum down around his navel. Chanyeol wondered if Yixing knew, but of _course_ he did. Yixing had probably focused his attention on the injuries that had yet to heal, and then would move onto fix the scars. “Did Yixing tell Suho?”

 

Kris shook his head. “I think he figured it out for himself.” He fingered the scasr, his head hanging. He was still frightfully thin, even though Chanyeol was aware Kyungsoo was feeding him as best as he could. He wasn’t a skeleton anymore, Chanyeol thought, his hand absently brushing over the still-obvious ribs. Kris flinched and Chanyeol retracted his hand.

 

“Fuck.” Chanyeol hissed. “Sorry. I wasn’t – fuck, I wasn’t thinking.” He was so accustomed to touching. The 11 of them had grown up together since they were toddlers, and they’d been there for each other all the time. As they’d grown older and bigger, it was just convenience and the lack of physical room that had them in separate rooms, but even now they curled up together after a bad battle.

 

Kris shook his head again, tugging his shirt back down. He looked impossibly small again. None of the clothes they had really _fit_ Kris – even thin as a skeleton and malnourished to the point of death, he was taller than even Chanyeol, who’d been the tallest out of all of them before. So he was wearing Chanyeol’s biggest shirt and one of Jongin’s basketball shorts, both of which were a little too short lengthwise. But _width_ wise, the clothes were too big, and sitting down, he looked so small and frail.

 

“Your fire,” Kris said, after a while. “Can I have it again?”

 

Chanyeol climbed up onto the bed and opened his palm. This time when Kris slid his palm on top of his, he watched to make sure the flame wasn’t too hot. It was awkward to hold Kris when Kris was obviously taller than him, but Chanyeol managed to settle until both of them were comfortable, his arm wrapped around Kris’ shoulder.

 

Kris fell asleep with his hand in Chanyeol’s palm, the fire flickering softly in front of them to the beat of Kris’ soft breathing.

 

\--

 

“He’s healing well _physically_ ,” Yixing said, absently running his hand over Sehun’s arm. Kris had apparently healed enough for him to be sparing his power on other people, although Chanyeol thought he still looked too frail. “Mentally, I don’t know. He seems to like Yeol and Hun, but that’s about it. He’s okay with me and Suho, but he panics with anyone else. Yesterday Jongdae came in because he got hurt in battle and I had to treat him outside the infirmary because Kris got so frightened.”

 

Luhan nodded. “And his _powers_. What is it? What kind of fire doesn’t burn? And why doesn’t he get burned by Chanyeol’s fire?”

 

“Well, he got burned once,” Minseok pointed out. “Remember Suho banned Chanyeol from the infirmary after that?”

 

Suho nodded, frowning. He’d had the perpetual frown since they’d found Kris a week and a half ago. “Well, the biggest thing for him right now is to heal. And…. We need to go on food runs. Yixing said he’s _supposed_ to be having cravings, but he’s probably holding them off. He doesn’t need more stress than he’s already got. And Kyungsoo’s food is good, but we can’t keep feeding him from powdered food. We need something nutritious. Substantial.”

 

\--

 

Chanyeol would have gone for the food run with everyone else, except Suho reasoned _someone_ other than Yixing (who had no damaging powers) and Kris (whose fire didn’t burn) had to stay on base. So he and Kyungsoo remained on base.

 

“Relax,” Kyungsoo told Yixing, “I’ll be outside and out of sight. It’s not like Sehun was exactly on the down low when he went raiding. They _know_ it was us. They don’t exactly know where our base is, but it’s still precautions for me to stay.”

 

“Kyungsoo controls the earth,” Yixing explained to Kris, once Kyungsoo was outside. “It was his idea to have our base underground, and he basically built the entire base.”

 

Kris’ eyes widened. “We’re… underground?”

 

Yixing paused, and then smiled uncertainly. “Maybe we forgot to mention? Is- is that a bad thing? We’re safer down here, especially when Kyungsoo’s with us. He can move the entire base without us feeling a single thing, you know. Collapse entrances and exits and have them up right away.”

 

Kris didn’t look like he was in panic. In fact, he looked awed. Chanyeol grinned. “Feel safer all of a sudden, huh? Hey, Kyungsoo, I think you can come in.” Kyungsoo peeked around the entrance. “He doesn’t look like he could do a lot of damage, doesn’t he? _You_ look more dangerous than he does.”

 

“Hey,” Kyungsoo complained, frowning a little.

 

Kris fumbled with the sheets. “Most of you don’t. But all of you are so powerful.”

 

Kyungsoo pulled a chair for himself, careful not to crowd Kris. “You can trust us, you know. Suho’s been trying hard to make you feel at home here.” Kris said nothing and looked at no one, squeezing the sheets in his hand. “You can tell us.”

 

Chanyeol’s gaze rose. “Kyungsoo?”

 

Kyungsoo didn’t look at him. His gaze was firm on Kris. “The baby you’re carrying. It’s a weapon, right?”

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he watched Kris’ grip on the sheets tighten. His eyes snapped to Yixing, who didn’t look surprised. “Kyungsoo, Yixing, what’s going on?”

 

“Minseok had a theory.” Yixing said, gently. “That the children Kris were forced to carry were experiments, something they could control from an early age to fight superhuman like us. And that he was tortured until he miscarried every time they didn’t turn out to have powers. Kris, it’s true, isn’t it? And the baby you’re carrying now… did they succeed?”

 

“I don’t know.” Kris’ voice was trembling. “I spent most of the time in the tank. I only caught on after a while because they’d talk about it over my head while they were – while they were-“

 

While they were torturing him. Chanyeol wanted to jump up and comfort him, but he was frozen in his seat. Yixing reached forward and placed a hand over one of Kris’ old scars, his hands glowing a soft white. “Shh. It’s okay,” Yixing said. “We aren’t mad at you, and we understand. Suho was pretty adamant about not putting any stress on you.” He glared briefly at Kyungsoo. “But maybe it’s good to just get it all out.”

 

“You can trust us, Kris,” Kyungsoo repeated, his voice gentle and firm.

 

“I really don’t know. I don’t know if it was too early for them to tell, or if – if they really succeeded.”

 

Yixing nodded. “It makes sense. Kris is barely 2 months along. This is a just-conceived child.”

 

Kyungsoo nodded again, slowly. He reached over and took Kris’ hands. Kris flinched. “You didn’t tell us because you thought if we found out, we’d make you get rid of it.” Kris was trembling, and Chanyeol jumped up but found himself unable to move any closer. “We would never, Kris. You’re a part of us now. We’ll take care of you and your child. You can trust us.”

\--

 

“Suho’s pissed at Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun said, outside of the infirmary. Kris was asleep and Sehun was watching over him, but Chanyeol couldn’t get himself to leave Kris. “There was a lot of yelling. On both parts. Kyungsoo kept pointing out that it actually worked out at the end. Listen, how is he? Yixing said he’s starting to throw up.”

 

Over the course of the past few hours, Chanyeol had learned that _morning_ sicknesses didn’t always happen in the morning. It had hit Kris out of nowhere, when Kyungsoo had brought him his usual meal and that had just set him off. He wasn’t strong enough to get out of bed yet and he’d vomited all over the floor. After the first few times they’d hauled in a bucket, and Kyungsoo had started making a list of what set Kris off.

 

“Well,” Kyungsoo said, sounding mad. “His body won’t take in processed food anymore. I told you. He threw up everything he ate today.”

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun looked up to see Kyungsoo briskly walking toward them, Suho following him with a stern face. “We got all we could. There isn’t much we can get right now.” Suho’s voice was tense, and when he saw Baekhyun and Chanyeol, his lips tightened. “Baekhyun, I told you to stop spying on me whenever I’m talking privately to other people.” Baekhyun pulled his innocent puppy-face blink, and Suho just rolled his eyes. He turned to Chanyeol. “How is he?” His voice was gentle and he peered in.

 

Kris was asleep, but his nausea hadn’t quite settled and not even Yixing’s healing could help. He was sweating a little in discomfort, even though Sehun had the warm breeze floating in the room. Suho snorted when he noticed the breeze. “What’s this about food?” Chanyeol asked, quietly. He was pretty certain Kris would wake with any loud noise.

 

“It’s the processed food,” Kyungsoo explained. “His body’s refusing it as good enough food to share with the baby. It’s okay for _us_ , you know, grown up men, but the baby’s sensitive to anything that might be bad, and his body’s refusing to ingest any of it. Suho managed to get some regular food, but… I don’t know how long it’ll last.”

 

“Just when he was starting to gain a little weight, too,” Baekhyun said, clicking his tongue and peeking in. “He still kind of looks like a skeleton.”

 

Kris shifted. Opened his eyes. “You can come in, you know,” he said, sounding tired.

 

They filed in a little sheepishly. “I’m Baekhyun.” Baekhyun introduced cheerfully, smiling. Baekhyun’s smile was infectious and Kris smiled back. “Sorry about the, uh, skeleton thing.”

 

“It’s all right. I know.” Kris shifted, sliding his bony wrists under the sheets. Baekhyun noticed and turned his puppy eyes to Chanyeol instead. Chanyeol glared. “Kyungsoo, you don’t have to be so bothered about my food. I’ll be okay.”

 

\---

 

“So now, he feels like a burden.” Yixing said. “He was making progress, and now we’re back to square one.” Yixing was angry, and for good reason. Yixing had been the one that had been most involved in healing Kris back. “If you two were going to argue, you could have done it somewhere he _couldn’t_ hear.”

 

Suho and Kyungsoo were silent. They were in the kitchen, and Kyungsoo was viciously cooking something. He’d been a while since Chanyeol had smelled any kind of _actual_ food. Kyungsoo was usually good at making powdered and vacuum-sealed food taste good, but the smell of actual vegetables cooking was making his mouth water. “Maybe we can go fishing, or something.”

 

“You aren’t supposed to eat fish when you’re pregnant.” Minseok said, handing Kyungsoo the pepper grinder. “Especially not from polluted waters like what we have now.”

 

“Maybe we can _grow_ fish.” Chanyeol insisted. “Suho can give us clean water, right?”

 

There was silence, but before Chanyeol could retract his idea for being stupid, Kyungsoo nodded. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. I don’t know if it’ll work. But it’s worth a try. Maybe we can go hunting, too. There _are_ animals still around. Maybe we can’t get pork or beef, but _something_.”

 

\--

 

It was how they ended up raiding a nearby library. They’d already raided library, but mostly for fiction reading and survival books. Now they were looking for livestock raising books. “I never thought I’d raise fish.” Baekhyun said, shooting a beam of light at the top shelves to have books tumbling down.

 

“And boar.” Minseok said, choosing to stick his ice to the books to bring them down. Chanyeol just reached up. “I don’t know how Zitao even managed to find that litter of little baby boar.”

 

Baekhyun shrugged. “Zitao has his ways. This one has stuff about having an aquarium. Would that help?”

 

They dumped whatever books they thought were appropriate into the bags they brought. When they got back, Jongdae and Jongin took to the matter of looking through them with Kyungsoo and Zitao. “How would we even get fish eggs that weren’t polluted? Aren’t most of the fish in the oceans now totally contaminated?” Zitao asked, frowning over the books.

 

“Maybe we could keep breeding them until we got good ones.” Jongdae suggested. “Or would that not happen in time?”

 

Suho nodded. “We’d have our best bet up in the mountains. Cleanest water there. I’ll make a run with Jongdae tomorrow morning. Go fishing a bit. Speaking of which, Jongdae, how were the boar?”

 

“They _look_ normal. Yixing and I spent the entire day looking over them, and we couldn’t find any abnormalities. But we aren’t animal experts.” Jongdae shrugged. “I don’t know, Suho. I don’t want to say it’s okay and having ended up feeding him poison.”

 

Suho sighed. “Well, we’ve got enough food for now. To last him at least a week or two, right?” Kyungsoo nodded. “Hopefully if this fish thing goes well, we won’t have to worry about feeding him the boar at all. We’ll see if we can get our hands on fresh food on our raid in a couple of days, and if we can’t, we’ll go on another food run.” He glanced at Kyungsoo. “You look like you have something to say.”

 

Kyungsoo sighed. “I do. Listen, like, Yixing and I were talking to him again today, while you guys were out. And I was cutting him an apple and stuff, and he looked so surprised by how it tasted that I joked and asked if he’d never had one before. I was _joking_. But he never had it. He didn’t even know what it was. He just assumed it was safe to eat because I was giving it to him, and everything else I gave him was safe to eat. For that matter, he didn’t know what everything else I’ve been feeding him was. He had no idea what the difference between powdered and regular food was, except the fact that he wasn’t throwing up so much anymore and it tasted better.”

 

He paused, too a deep breath, and continued. “We grew up in poverty all our lives, and _we_ knew what apples were. We knew what eggs were. What chicken was. But Kris had no idea. He didn’t have a name for any food. He told us as early as he could remember, he was always at the lab. They didn’t have him in the tank from the beginning, but he was never really given _food_. They gave him shots of what Yixing assumes are nutrients and fed him _something_ that he didn’t have a name for, apparently for calories so he didn’t drop dead. After they started putting him in the tank, Kris can’t remember eating anything. He was just always getting raped or tortured.”

 

Chanyeol felt his hands tremble and he clenched them shut in an attempt to stop. “What – what are you trying to get at?”

 

Kyungsoo looked at him. “My point is… I have a theory. Yixing agrees with me. My point is that _he_ might be an experiment. They’re experimenting babies with him, right? So maybe he was one, too. I don’t know if he was a success, since his fire doesn’t burn, but they couldn’t have known that until he was born, right?”

 

Chanyeol opened his palm and clenched it shut again. “He said they tried to make him so that he could fight against me. But he doesn’t seem like he could be younger than us. He’s roughly our age. And I didn’t master the phoenix technique until recently.”

 

Kyungsoo nodded. “He probably wasn’t originally made to combat _us_. Or maybe he wasn’t meant for combat at all. Some people think male birthers are supposed to give birth to stronger kids, remember? Maybe he was just supposed to be a breeding machine.”

 

A heavy silence hung over them. Sehun stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go see him,” he announced, and no one stopped him. Chanyeol burst up from his seat, his feet slamming after Sehun’s, and no one stopped them.

 

\--

 

Kris was awake, and Yixing was holding a hand to his forehead. “He’s got a fever that I can’t break,” Yixing explained, looking a little troubled. “It’s not high or anything, but I can’t do anything about it.”

 

“Maybe you need a break,” Luhan suggested softly – he’d followed them quietly.

 

Yixing shook his head. “I haven’t been doing any healing…” He looked up. “ _Oh_.”

 

Chanyeol flinched. “Why are you looking at me?”

 

“I just remembered the last time this happened. It was when _you_ refused to use your fire for a while. Remember? When you accidentally burned Zitao? You refused to use any fire for a while. And then it built up and you got that fever that I couldn’t break. It only healed when you went to battle and pretty much exploded in firepower.” He stood up. “Kris, you haven’t used your powers in a while.”

 

Kris looked troubled. His hands snaked around his stomach, something Chanyeol had been noticing he did when he was scared. Chanyeol pressed his hand over Kris’ and Kris looked up. “Come on. I’ll help you.”

 

Kris hesitated, but when Chanyeol lifted his hands to cup fire in both of his hands, he cautiously slide his hands into Chanyeol’s. He chewed the bottom of his lips and closed his eyes, leaning forward a little. He bowed his head, and then for a moment, an intense heat burst.

 

And Kris had two wings made of fire, stretching behind his back. Chanyeol’s jaw dropped. Luhan said, “ _Holy shit_.”

 

The wings spluttered, and Kris whimpered, falling forward into Chanyeol. Chanyeol pumped his fire harder on reflex. The wings fired up again. They were huge things made purely of fire, folded at the moment but still impressive. Sehun reached up, and his hands brushed the wings. He wasn’t getting burned. “My wings don’t burn,” Kris said, his head resting on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “You can pluck a feather. Go on.”

 

Chanyeol didn’t know how Sehun could feel out a _feather_ among the massive fire, but Sehun groped along the edges until he could wrap his hands around something. He pulled gently and the piece of fire came off in his hand, shaped exactly like a feather. Luhan repeated, “Holy shit.”

 

Even when Kris let the wings disappear, the feather in Sehun’s hand remained bright and burning. Yixing helped Kris lay back down. “Fever’s broken.” Yixing said, feeling Kris’ forehead. “But that exhausted you, I’m sorry.”

 

Kris shook his head, breathing shallowly. “No. I didn’t know it would do that, either. I was better at it. Before… before the tank.”

 

Luhan took the feather from Sehun’s hands. “It’s warm. Almost hot.” He passed it to Chanyeol, who stared. The piece was small but it blazed brightly in his hands. He experimentally wrapped his own fire around it and it seemed to glow brighter, burn a little hotter, but when he pulled his fire back, it was back to normal. “Do you mind if we tell the others?”

 

Kris shook his head. “Go ahead.” He smiled shyly at Chanyeol. “I’m kind of hungry.”

 

\--

 

It was the first time Kris had _ever_ mentioned being hungry, so Kyungsoo cooked up a feast. Chanyeol was pretty sure Kris couldn’t even eat all of it, but he and Sehun helped Kyungsoo carry all the plates into the infirmary.

 

Kris mostly nibbled at all the food, but he was nibbling on them for longer than usual. Kyungsoo beamed when he cleared a plate, and so Kris ate through half the second before he looked nauseous. “Don’t push yourself,” Suho said, turning the bright feather in his hand. “Maybe you can show us, too, when you’re done?”

 

Kris hesitated, and Chanyeol knew why. Suho was _water_. Suho wouldn’t do anything to hurt Kris – he wouldn’t do anything to hurt _any_ of them, ever, but Chanyeol knew the sheer panic of having someone who could easily put his fire out nearby. He’d taken some time to get used to Suho’s presence, too. Suho seemed to understand, but Kris nodded, and Suho smiled brightly.

 

All the plates (now cleared by the other members) were pushed to a pile and Chanyeol helped Kris stand. Kris couldn’t, not yet, on his own – he was still too malnourished for that – but Chanyeol held him tight, his arms tucked under Kris’ arms and wrapping securely over his waist. “Do you need my help?”

 

Kris nodded. “I don’t think I can do it by myself yet.” So Chanyeol took one arm off, gripping more firmly with the other, so Kris could slip his hand into Chanyeol’s. Kris’ wings burst from his back again, and Luhan whispered (for the third time), “ _Holy_ shit.”

 

“They’re amazing,” Jongin breathed. “Can you fly on them?”

 

“I don’t know.” Kris confessed, sounding a little embarrassed. “I’ve never been allowed to try.” That made Chanyeol hold Kris a little tighter, and Kris rested his head on Chanyeol’s shoulders. Standing, Kris actually had at least a couple of inches on Chanyeol, and the position was awkward, but Kris didn’t seem to mind.

 

All of them took a feather – Kris seemed happy that they were awed enough to do it – and Chanyeol helped Kris tuck back in. “Hungry again?” Kris shook his head and was asleep in moments, and no one said anything.

 

\--

 

Kris was officially allowed out of the infirmary. Suho gave up his own room to share with Baekhyun so Kris and Chanyeol could share one, and Chanyeol pushed the beds together. Kris had been sitting on the floor, but Baekhyun had pushed a cushion under him and was lecturing him on how he shouldn’t be sitting on cold floors when he had a baby. Kris looked slightly taken back but – but he looked happy.

 

\--

 

Weeks later, Kris’ morning sickness hadn’t completely gone away, and when he vomited, his entire body convulsed. It hit him hard, and he whimpered even as Chanyeol held him from the back. “Sorry,” Kris whispered, shivering in between bouts. “I woke you.”

 

“Shhh, don’t be sorry. Don’t ever _not_ wake me up for something like this.” Chanyeol’s grip tightened when Kris heaved again, retching into the toilet bowl. Finally when all he was doing was dry heaving, Chanyeol coaxed some water into him and helped him back to bed. Kris was shivering, his body curled into himself, and Chanyeol rubbed his back, wrapping himself around Kris as much as he could.

 

Kris vomited throughout the night, spitting bile into the toilet when there was nothing else left in him. It wasn’t until early morning that he fell into an uneasy sleep. Chanyeol got Yixing as soon as he could. “It was really bad yesterday. He kept throwing up even after there wasn’t anything left in him.”

 

Yixing frowned, his hand glowing a warm white as he rubbed circles onto Kris’ back. Kris whimpered a little at the touch but relaxed. “Maybe something he ate was off.”

 

“It’s the same dishes Kyungsoo’s been doing, though. Do you think there’s something…” His eyes slid to Kris’ stomach.

 

Yixing shook his head. “No. The baby’s fine.” He moved his hand to Kris’ stomach. “I can feel it here. What did he do yesterday?”

 

“I don’t – I don’t know. I was at the raid.”

 

Yixing paused, as if something had occurred to him. “And Sehun?”

 

“He was there, too.”

 

Yixing nodded. “I see. I get it. It’s the first day he spent by himself, without either you or Sehun. I’ll talk to Suho later. Make sure one of you are with him at all times.”

 

\--

 

“I wish he could get some sunlight,” Sehun said, closing the book once Kris was asleep. Chanyeol looked up from his desk. Sehun reached to sweep Kris’ blonde bangs from his eyes. “Not that we could take him out, I guess. But still. He said he’s never seen it before.”

 

\--

 

It shouldn’t surprise Chanyeol that that was exactly what Sehun did. Sehun took Kris out. He got chewed out for it afterwards, by a frantic Minseok and a pissed Suho, but Sehun looked proud.

 

And he did it again. And again.

 

He always carried Kris on his back, Kris’ long legs almost comically hanging around him. They were gone before Chanyeol could wake up to stop it (he’d always been a heavy sleeper) and back long after lunch. Sehun always got yelled at for it, but Kris looked so amazed.

 

“He’s never been out,” Sehun explained one day, _finally_ , when Suho demanded to know why he was taking such big risks. “He grew up behind the walls. Suho, if you saw – if you saw what he looked like when he saw the sun, you’d keep doing it, too.”

 

Chanyeol didn’t doubt he would, too. So one day he stayed up, and when he got up to follow, Sehun didn’t stop him. Chanyeol carried Kris on his back, the soft roundness of his stomach pressing against him. Kris was still impossibly thin – Yixing had pointed out that you couldn’t cure almost 20 years of starvation in a few months – and he’d started showing earlier than Yixing had expected. Chanyeol spent the nights before falling asleep folding his hands over Kris’ stomach, wondering if the life inside it could feel his awe.

 

Chanyeol let Kris down – and knew Sehun was right. Kris looked so amazed at the sun. There was so much destruction and calamity on the ground, but the sun was high in the blue sky. “When this war ends, you can see flowers and grass.” Chanyeol kicked back, leaning on one of the rocks jutting out on the bare ground. “We’ll plant seeds everywhere. Yixing can bring plants thriving pretty quickly, and Kyungsoo can take care of the earth. We’ll restore it.”

Sehun snorted, but he was smiling. “Yeah. I miss flowers.” He raised his hand, and a calm breeze rustled through their hair. “You’d be able to smell flowers. Grass. Trees. Hear the creek trickling nearby.” Sehun smiled up at the sun. “When this is over, we’ll make a world that the kid can grow up in.” Sehun nodded to Kris’ stomach. “He won’t have to deal with what we are dealing with now.”

 

Kris smiled, and Chanyeol thought his smile was like the sun. “Yes.” He curled his hand over his stomach. “That… that’d be amazing.”

 

\--

 

Suho had Kyungsoo seal off the exits to Kris, Chanyeol, and Sehun. “I know you’re mad at me,” Suho told Kris one day, sitting with a small teddy bear in his lap. “I just – it’s for your safety.”

 

Kris smiled. “I know, Suho. You don’t have to apologize to me. I would’ve done the same if I were you. I should be the one apologizing. You brought me here. Took care of me, gave me a new life, and I’ve nothing but be a burden.”

 

Suho smiled softly. “Don’t say that.” He rubbed the doll’s single ear. “I found this, on our last raid. I washed it, and it’s missing an ear, but…” He handed it to Kris. “It’s an attempt at an apology, for locking you in here. I feel like I’m no better than the people who had you locked up, but-“

 

Kris’ voice trembled. “Suho. Stop. You… Stop. You’re nothing like them. Don’t think of it like that.” He rubbed the teddy bear’s one ear. “You’re _nothing_ like them.”

 

\--

 

Suho brought a doll tucked under his arm after every raid, and Chanyeol didn’t say anything about the growing number of stuffed animals on the bed. All of them were missing something – it was hard to find a doll intact in this world – but Suho had cleaned them all carefully and sewn them up. Chanyeol rubbed Kris’ growing stomach one night, letting his fire spread gently over Kris’ skin. “At least the kid’ll have a lot of dolls to play with,” he said, rolling his eyes.

 

Kris smiled. He was a lot stronger now. Even though he tired quickly, he walked around by himself, tagging the one-eared teddy bear with him. He helped Kyungsoo around the kitchen, helped care for the boar that were growing way too fast, and poked around at the fish pond.

 

Which was why they’d all decided to leave Kris behind for the next raid. “Kyungsoo’ll close all openings.” Suho said, like he was convincing himself more than anyone else. “He’ll be safe here. And we need all hands on deck for this raid.”

 

Kris rubbed the bear’s remaining ear absently. “I’ll be fine.” He smiled, rubbing and Chanyeol’s hand. Chanyeol frowned, flipped his hand over, and burst a flame again. Kris slid his hands into Chanyeol’s and he sighed contently, leaning on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “I’ll be okay. It’ll only be a short while, right?”

 

“Right,” Luhan said, his brows furrowed. “If you hear anything, _anything_ that doesn’t sound like us, you know where to go, right?” Kris nodded. He’d been shown the hidden bunker multiple times. “Anything at all that doesn’t sound like us, Kris.”

 

“I know.”

 

\--

 

Chanyeol gripped his fists and let the fire explode into the sky, his trademark phoenix screeching through the ranks. Uneasiness pooled in his gut, and he couldn’t shake it off. “Where are the generals?” He hissed to Luhan. “It’s not like them to stay quiet for so long.”

 

Luhan grunted, yanking the guns from the grunt’s grips and sending them flying to the opposite wall. “I don’t know. _Help_.”

 

Chanyeol’s phoenix rounded its course when he raised his hand for a second run through the ranks. “Luhan, _what if they’re at base?_ ”

 

Luhan stopped, frowning. “Kyungsoo closed all the entrances.” He sounded unsure himself. “All right, go. I’ll tell Suho where you went. Leave your phoenix here, I’m going to see if I can use it.”

 

Chanyeol turned and ran, his heart hammering in his chest. He was overthinking it. Kyungsoo had closed all the entrances. Everything was blocked. There was no way they could have gotten in – the base was too deep for them to have drilled through, and even if they’d started drilling, Kris would have realized. And ran. The bunker was basically undetectable, hidden under layers and layers of all their powers.

 

There wouldn’t be anything wrong.

 

\--

 

“Oh, god,” he breathed, “No, no, no.” He jumped over the rubble. How had they – how was it even _possible_? He jumped into the ragged pit, running down. “No, no, no. _Please_.” He moaned, running past their totaled common area. The pool. The training room. The kitchen. Every single room was destroyed. “ _No_.”

 

He ran straight for his room and froze. Blood was smeared all over the walls, splattered over the remains of the dolls who’d been torn apart. He swayed on his feet, nauseous, but when he put his hands on the wall to right himself, his hands came back sticky with drying blood. He threw up.

 

“Hello, phoenix.”

 

Chanyeol turned on his heels, rubbing his mouth angrily. A man dressed crisply in a suit stood, backed by two men, one holding something on his shoulder. Chanyeol raised his hand, growling, his hands bursting with fire. But before he could shoot them, the second man stepped in front of the man, and Chanyeol suddenly realized what he was holding.

 

It was Kris.

 

He was bleeding all over the man’s shoulder, blood cascading down the suit. Blood dripped from his blonde bangs, the tips of his fingers. Chanyeol froze, breath harsh in his throat. “Give him back.” He croaked.

 

The man ignored him. “You’ve taken quite a good care of our little dragon. So surprised to see him walking about. James, if you’d please.”

 

The man that wasn’t holding Kris grabbed Kris’ lower arm. With a sickening crunch, he snapped it in half, the white bone protruding from Kris’ flesh, sending more blood down his arm. Chanyeol let out a strangled cry, but Kris didn’t move. Didn’t make a sound. “You’ve killed him.” Chanyeol whispered. There was too much blood.

 

“No, just about.” The man said, stepping forward. He grabbed a fistful of bloodied blonde hair and yanked Kris’ face up. Kris didn’t even look like he was in pain. He just..

 

He just looked like he was dead.

 

Chanyeol’s blood ran cold.

 

“He’s too valuable for us to kill. As you’ve apparently found out, he can breed. But he doesn’t need to properly function to be able to be impregnated and give birth. Doesn’t even have to _give_ birth, as long as we can cut it out of him. But we’re running out of time, and at this rate he really will die.”

 

And with a flash he was gone. Chanyeol screamed, his fire bursting through the tunnels and he knew his phoenix was reacting. Knew Luhan would understand, knew he’d bring the others.

 

\--

 

“They said they wouldn’t kill him?”

 

“No,” Chanyeol whispered, after he’d thrown up everything he’d had in his stomach. “But – but he looked like he was dead. There was so much blood. And they – they broke his arm, shoved the bone right through his skin and he didn’t react. Not even a little.”

 

Suho picked up the blooded, torn teddy bear. “All right,” he said, placing it down gingerly on the bed. His voice was frigid. “We’re going to war.”

 

\--

 

Chanyeol was aware every minute they were spending meant another second Kris was getting tortured. Maybe getting another limb broken. Maybe getting his child torn out of him. Maybe getting raped. Maybe put back in the tank. Maybe beat, flogged, kicked, crushed-

 

He took a shuddered breath and buried his face in his hands. Jongin was sitting next to him, quiet. “We’ll get him back.”

 

Chanyeol nodded, trying to push the image of Kris’ white bone, glistening wetly in blood. “Yeah.” He just hoped they wouldn’t be too late.

 

\--

 

They’d always been careful not to kill. Suho had been adamant about it. _We don’t swoop to their level_. “I’ll be aiming to kill.” Suho said, calmly washing blood from the newly mended one-eared bear. They hadn’t been able to salvage anything else, but Suho had used the clean cotton from other dolls to re-stuff the one-eared bear and sew it back up. “I won’t ask the rest of you to do the same. But that’s what I’ll be doing.”

 

Chanyeol looked around the room and had no doubt that was what everyone else would be doing. Jongin’s gaze was fierce, his body jerking every so often and Chanyeol had known him enough to know he was teleporting rapidly to calm his nerves. Zitao was silently sharpening his blade, the screech of metal against stone almost soothing in the heavy silence. Luhan had his eyes closed, but the rubble near him was floating, shooting into the stone walls. Yixing was quietly meditating.

 

Kyungsoo was flexing his hands, the earth rumbling quietly around them. Sehun had his eyes closed, but the air around them was sharp, almost cutting through them. The ground around Minseok was pure ice. Water was dripping from Suho’s hands, splattering to the ground in a small puddle. Jongdae’s hands were clenched into fists, electricity running up and down his arms. Baekhyun was leaning nonchalantly on the wall, but he was brimming with bright light.

 

Together with Chanyeol, the latter seven were the damage dealers. Yixing was staying behind to meditate and store as much power as he could so he could heal Kris when they got back. Jongin, Zitao, and Luhan were good at using their powers offensively, but the other seven could do intense damage in a short time. They’d just always held back.

 

Chanyeol closed his eyes and he could see blood dripping on to the floor from long fingers, blonde hair dyed dark red.

 

He was ready.

 

\--

 

“Remember they have superhumans, too.” Suho said, pulling fingerless gloves on. “Chanyeol saw them teleport away. And they couldn’t have dug through that fast without them. They’re probably people like Kris. Experiments. Kyungsoo, you can’t shake up the entire building.”

 

“I know.” Kyungsoo said, gritting his teeth. “Kris is in there. But once we get him out, I’m leveling this place.”

 

Suho nodded. “Ready?”

 

Chanyeol clenched his fists. He’d _been_ ready, and he yelled, his fire bursting into a phoenix, then another, then another. Sehun let out his own yell, the winds near them whipping up into a giant tornado. Minseok’s ice was already piercing through bodies, Suho’s waters had already flooded the grounds, and Jongdae’s electricity was running through it.

 

“You guys got this, right?” Jongin said, watching the massacre.

 

“Yeah.” Kyungsoo said, testing the earth. It growled under their feet under his command. He flicked his hand up, bringing a chunk of earth up from under the soldiers’ feet and letting them drop. “Go find him. Take Chanyeol with you.”

 

Chanyeol frowned. “What? I’m staying here.”

 

Kyungsoo shook his head. “No. If he’s conscious, he’ll respond to you and you only. Go with him. And send me a signal when I can level the place.” Kyungsoo looked up at the phoenixes above their heads. “Leave them here. Luhan can use them, right?”

 

“I got it.” Luhan said. “Took me a bit of time before, but I got the hang of it. Can’t control them like Chanyeol does, but thankfully I just gotta get them going to have them burn.” As if to prove his point, he brought a phoenix around. It didn’t really _fly_ , just glided around, but it did the job.

 

“Go, Chanyeol.” Suho nodded. He brought his hand up, and a tsunami rose up with it. Jongdae raised his own hand and lightning struck the wave, bringing down a crash of water and electricity onto the army that faced them. Chanyeol almost felt sorry for them, but then remembered blood-soaked blonde bangs and gritted his teeth. “We got this. Go bring him back.”

 

\--

 

The inside of the building was eerily silent. “You think he’s here?”

 

Jongin bit his lip, checking to make sure his gun was full of ammo. “I don’t know.”

 

“We should’ve brought Sehun with us. He was the one who found the tank.”

 

“No use. They probably would’ve changed the location anyway.” Jongin tensed and grabbed Chanyeol, and Chanyeol found himself staring once at the ceiling, and then rapidly down to the ground. Jongin fired two shots, and Chanyeol sent a burst of fire in the general direction.

 

“A teleporter,” a boy said – he couldn’t be older than they were. Younger, if Chanyeol had to bet. “That’s cool. You’re like me.”

 

The corner of Jongin’s lips curled upward. “Like you?” Jongin spun his gun around his finger. “I’d like to think I’m better.”

 

The boy nodded. “Your friends outside, they’re definitely better.”

 

Jongin didn’t lose his smirk, and he was gone in a flash. And before the other could react, Jongin was pinning him to the ground, gun to his head. When he teleported, Jongin was already _there_ , waiting for him. Chanyeol sighed. “Stop. You know Jongin’s just playing with you, right? You could be dead on the floor ten times already.”

 

Jongin smirked, materializing next to Chanyeol. “It’s good you’re here. You’ll show us where Kris is.”

 

The boy shrugged, panting harshly even though Jongin didn’t have a hair out of place. “The dragon won’t add anything to your group. He tell you his name’s Kris? That’s funny.”

 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. “Why’s that funny?”

 

“He didn’t have a name before, far as I know. None of us do. I’m the rabbit. He’s the dragon. Master’s favorite little pet. Useless piece of shit, though. He feeds Master’s sadistic side so the rest of us don’t have to.” The other teleporter shrugged. “Master was pissed about his leaving, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dead.”

 

A chill ran through Chanyeol’s spine. “You don’t know where he is.”

 

“Nope. We did, before, when those tanks existed. Thankfully your friend broke them all. I hated those things.”

 

Jongin frowned. “You’ve been in them? It wasn’t just Kris?”

 

“The dragon was the only one constantly going in and out of it, but all of us went in it once or twice. If we messed up real bad. They’re filled with breathable liquid. Burns the shit out of your lungs, but doesn’t drown you. Colder than ice water. I don’t know how he didn’t go insane, going in and out of that on a daily basis. It hurts when you’re in it, but it hurts worse when they’re taking you out.” The teleporter shrugged. “Or maybe he _did_ go insane. Explains why he kept fighting us when we were trying to fuck him even though clearly that’s always ended him up with broken bones-“

 

Jongin’s gun echoed and the teleporter crumbled. “Trash.” Jongin spat. “Come on, Chanyeol.”

 

The earth rumbled below them. “Hold up, Kyungsoo.” Chanyeol mumbled. “He’s really pissed, isn’t he.”

 

“He just wants his assistant cook back,” Jongin said, attempting to joke even though both of them knew _all_ of them just wanted Kris back. He’d grown to be a part of them in the few months he’d stayed. And a big part of Chanyeol. A big part of Sehun, too, although both of them wanted to tackle that hurdle later. Later when Kris was with them. Safe. Unhurt. “You all right?”

 

“Yeah, just…” Chanyeol flexed his hands. “Every time I let my mind run, it’s just…”

Jongin nodded. “See him. I know. I see that room. I don’t know how it’s for you, to have actually seen…” Jongin swallowed thickly. “Let’s find him.”

 

They started from the bottom and started moving up, clearing through each floor. “I’m running out of bullets,” Jongin complained, reloading from a clip taken from someone he’d shot clear through the head.

 

“Or you could, you know, break their neck instead of shooting them.” Chanyeol knew Jongin had mastered the art of using his bare hands as weapons. Zitao had taught him, and usually they worked together.

 

“That takes more effort.” Jongin said coolly, shoving another pistol into his belt. “They don’t deserve my time.”

 

\--

 

“That was anticlimactic,” Jongin said, his gun holding steady. “Where’s Kris?”

 

They’d just walked into the seventh floor and the man was sitting in a chair on the other end of the floor. Unlike the other floors with corridors and rooms, the entire floor was a room. “This room is smaller than the other floors,” Chanyeol said, his eyes narrowing.

 

“Bravo, good observation.” The man clapped slowly, a lazy smirk on his lips.

 

Jongin’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve pretty strong faith in us. You don’t think we’ll kill you?”

 

The man chuckled. “I’ve strong faith in your desperation to find the dragon.” He nodded to the window. “Your friends have made that clear. I suspect they’re just waiting for your confirmation that you have the dragon before they destroy everything here. I knew you were holding back, although I had no idea how grand your powers were.”

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t seen half of it.”

 

“No, I suspect not.” The man stood, strolling to the window. “No more people to kill, yet they let their elements rage. To show me your powers, I assume. Well, I must admit I’m impressed. And at the same time… disappointed.” He strolled back to his chair. “I thought you would hold to your ideal of not killing. How bizarre it is, that so many lives are lost. Over one whore.”

 

Jongin’s finger squeezed the trigger and the bullet embedded itself right next to the man’s foot. He said nothing, and the man didn’t even look impressed. “You won’t get this because you’re a piece of trash.” Jongin said, his voice unwavering. “Kris holds a lot of meaning for us. He’s the first one we’ve ever brought into our group. He gave us his complete trust.” Jongin’s eyes flickered to Chanyeol. “He ate food we gave him without questioning its safety. If _I_ were him, if _I’d_ come from a background where I’d been tortured for all my life, I wouldn’t have trusted anything anyone gave me. Probably would have turned rogue. But he didn’t. He smiles at us, he laughs with us, and he’s looking forward to raising the kid that he got by being raped. All of you think we’re monsters, and, fuck, looking outside, I’d say that some part of us is. But he’s not. He’s more human than all of you combined.”

 

Chanyeol was impressed by Jongin’s speech. He’d never once thought about his attraction to Kris, about why he was so important to them. There was more to it than his pure trust for them, Chanyeol thought, something that reminded all of them of what they were, what they used to be before they were forced to turn their powers to destruction.

 

But there was more than that. Chanyeol just loved him. There wasn’t a tangible reason for it, or even a rational reason, except that his heart thundered in his chest when Kris smiled at him. Except that the world didn’t seem so hopeless and bleak and cynical when Kris was sleeping beside him.

 

And he was going to get him back. That was that. “Where is he?”

 

The man ignored him. “Nice speech.” He turned, chuckling darkly. “But he may no longer be so trusting and pure once you find him again.”

 

Chanyeol’s heart jumped to his throat. “What did you do to him?”

 

“Very easy to shatter a trusting heart, especially aided by incredible pain. Loss of senses.” The man shook his head as if Chanyeol and Jongin were too stupid to understand. He tapped the wall and it clicked and whirred until it was a clear glass.

 

Kris was behind the glass. He was bloodied and bruised, and his blonde hair was matted with dried blood. His forearm – the one that the bone had protruded through – had been roughly bound, but his limbs bent at unnatural angles. Blood trickled from between his thighs, and there was an angry red scar that bled sluggishly on his flat stomach.

 

Chanyeol’s breath caught in his throat and Jongin jumped, flickering. But he was thrown back, and Chanyeol jumped to catch him. “Wha-“

 

“I took precautions, of course. You might remember that I was able to teleport, back at your base. I lost that, when you killed my rabbit, but still. We’ve gone quite a bit of research here. You teleporters were always a nuisance, so that was the first focus. Of course, the research is in its beginning stages, and so far it has an unfortunate side effect of causing the person inside the field nauseous if stayed in it for too long. But useful, in this situation.”

 

Jongin hissed and raised his gun, about to fire, but he stopped when a large, suited man walked into the room behind the glass. He poured a bucket of water onto Kris’ head, and Kris’ body spasmed as he woke, coming to in coughs that wrecked his entire body. Kris’ hand went immediately to his stomach, fingering the wound gingerly as he sobbed.

 

“Kris!” Chanyeol said, uncaring of the man as he threw himself at the glass. “Kris!”

 

“He can’t hear you.” The man said, clicking his tongue. “We took care of that. John, turn the dragon’s head so our guest can see his ears.”

 

Chanyeol’s blood ran cold when the man grabbed Kris’ hair and pulled until Kris’ head jerked to the side. There was dried blood trailing from the ear Chanyeol could see, and Kris whimpered, trying to pull his head away.

 

“Now show him the dragon’s eyes.”

 

Chanyeol screamed when the man swept Kris’ bangs into his hands, twisting Kris’ face up. Kris struggled weakly, but his broken limbs did nothing for him. Kris’ eyes were dull, pupils unfocused, gray and blown wide.

 

Jongin’s voice was quiet. He had one hand on the glass, and his eyes were focused on Kris as the man dropped him, and he curled up, his hands going back to his stomach. Chanyeol tried not to think about Kris’ smile as he and Sehun had talked about planting grass and flowers for the baby. “What is it that you want?”

 

  
“Perhaps to cause as much pain onto you as I have felt. John, if you’d please.”

 

Chanyeol watched in horrified silence as the man inside the glass wrenched Kris’ legs open. He knew what was going to happen before it did, and when the man unzipped his pants and thrust into Kris, his scream echoed Kris’.

 

And then Jongin was gone from his side.

 

He was suddenly behind the glass, emptying his clip into the man’s head and kicking the corpse away.

 

“Imposs-“ Chanyeol didn’t let the man finish. His body exploded in fire, and the glass shattered. He ignored the man’s screams as his fire burned through him.

 

Kris was trying to fight Jongin. “He doesn’t know it’s us,” Jongin said, his hands hovering over Kris’ wrists. He’d taken his jacket off to tuck around Kris, but Kris’ struggling had slid it off.

 

“It’s okay.” Chanyeol said, gingerly tucking his hands around Kris to pull him into a hug. Kris let out a whimper. “Kris, Kris.” Chanyeol said, taking an unbroken wrist and tucking it into his palm.

 

Kris paused and started to tremble. “Chan…Chanyeol…”

 

“Yeah.” Chanyeol said, smiling. He ignored the fire behind them and ignored the screams, glad Kris couldn’t hear them. He tucked Kris closer and Kris didn’t struggle. “It’s me, Kris.” He let his fire ignite in his hands, and Kris fell back against him.

 

\--

 

Kyungsoo had wiped out the building in a matter of seconds as soon as they were back, but that was the last thing on Chanyeol’s mind as he gingerly unwrapped his and Jongin’s jackets from around Kris. “Can you fix his eyes and ears?” Zitao asked, teary as he hovered nearby.

 

“I don’t know.” Yixing said, his voice trembling as he took in the extent of the damage. “I’ll have to see.”

 

“You haven’t had an injury you couldn’t correct yet.” Suho said, gripping Yixing’s elbow. “You’ll be fine.”

 

Yixing paused, and then nodded. “Help me clean him up. Be _careful_ with him.”

 

Sehun and Chanyeol each grabbed a towel, rubbing gingerly at dried blood. Kris hadn’t moved a finger since he’d fallen unconscious against Chanyeol, and he was half scared Kris had died. But Yixing had a firm had on Kris’ wrist, maintaining his pulse, and he knew Kris couldn’t be.

 

But even as they worked away at dirt and blood, Kris didn’t make a sound. No furrowing of the brow of discomfort, no whimper even when Chanyeol’s fingers brushed over a swollen wrist. Sehun swallowed thickly. “Is – is he going to be all right?”

 

Yixing ran his hand gingerly over the stomach wound, closing it slowly. “I don’t know,” he breathed, his voice soft. “This cut is pretty deep.”

 

That wasn’t what Sehun was talking about, and Yixing probably knew that, but none of them wanted to face the potential problem of Kris _not_ being all right. Suho was silently working the grime and blood, and under patient, gentle fingers, the blonde was starting to show again. Zitao was hovering nearby, handing Yixing whatever he asked for immediately. He’d burst into tears when he saw how bad Kris was, and he was still sniffling.

 

Yixing lifted his hand carefully, and the skin underneath was smooth without a trace of the original tear. Chanyeol tore his eyes away from it, trying to breathe evenly. Yixing moved quietly to find broken bones, his hands glowing white every time he found an anomaly.

 

“Do you think you’ll be okay go through all of it?” Minseok asked, leaning forward on the chair he was sitting.

 

Yixing nodded. “I’ll be fine.” He was biting his lip as he brushed his hand along Kris’ legs, fingers brushing over pale skin. He paused at the blood tracks on the thighs and carefully nudged the thighs apart. “Chanyeol, could you…”

 

Chanyeol handed the towel he was holding to Zitao and scooted over, taking Kris’ knee in one hand and gently propping it up off the table so Yixing had better access. Yixing winced, and Chanyeol glanced over. The skin there was bruised and torn, sluggishly leaking blood from his most recent abuse. “Yixing, he…” Jongin had his head lifted. “They raped him again. I don’t know if I was fast enough to stop anything, or… I don’t know. Is he… could he be..”

 

Yixing shook his head. “No. His uterus was too damaged for that.” Yixing lifted his hand and Chanyeol swallowed thickly at the new skin. “I didn’t feel anything else when I was healing him.”

 

“Does that mean he won’t be able to conceive again?” Zitao asked, swallowing thickly as he dabbed at the blood that had dried from Kris’ ears.

 

Yixing shook his head. “He will. But… I don’t know. He’s gone through so much pain because of it already. Maybe it’s just better if he never had the ability to begin with.”

 

There was a heavy silence in the room as Yixing continued, carefully fixing wounds and bruises. Chanyeol realized he was still gripping Kris’ knee and he let it down. “Yixing,” Suho said, looking up. “You look like you’re going to pass out. Go rest.”

 

“But his sight and his hearing..” Yixing faltered.

 

Suho shook his head. “Not today. Luhan, could you take Yixing to your room? Make sure he actually rests.”

 

Luhan took Yixing’s hand. “Yeah, I got it.” He looked over Kris, chewing the inside of his cheeks. “He’ll be all right.”

 

“He has to be.” Sehun answered. “He _will_ be.”

 

\--

 

Yixing didn’t wake up for two days afterward, but neither did Kris. If Chanyeol didn’t know otherwise, he’d have thought Kris was dead, silent and still.

 

He was barely breathing, and his skin was cool, even though with fire-based powers, Kris’ skin had to be warm. Even if his fire didn’t burn. Minseok’s skin was verging almost on cold because of his ice, and he’d frown and run his finger along Kris’ arm, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper until Jongdae took his hand and shook his head.

 

Even when Yixing woke up on the third day, bags heavy under eyes, Kris had stayed motionless. “I don’t know.” Yixing said, gnawing on his bottom lip. “His pulse is slow and his temperature’s really low. Almost like Minseok’s, except that’s normal for Minseok.” His hands brushed over Kris’ left ear. He’d been able to fix the hearing in one ear but Suho had stopped him before he went on further because he looked even more exhausted. “It’s like his body’s going into hibernation.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Yixing frowned. “I don’t know how to put it to words. But when I’m healing him, I get this feeling that his body’s had enough. It wants to shut down, just to sleep forever. But then I also feel him fighting. He’s exhausted physically, but he wants to keep on fighting. So maybe his physical body and his spirit’s struggling to find a middle ground where they can heal together.”

 

\--

 

Chanyeol and Sehun refused to leave the infirmary. Suho had brought the one-eared teddy bear to the room, tucking it against the headboard. It looked a little sad, but also hopeful, just like how Chanyeol felt. The air around them was sharp, but Chanyeol knew if he bent down a little, the air around Kris was warm and pleasant.

 

“Should’ve told him before,” Sehun said, the air stilling suddenly. “Both of us.”

 

“Told him what?” Chanyeol closed his eyes, pressing Kris’ cool hand to his cheek, wanting nothing more than to warm it.

 

“That we _loved_ him.” Sehun snapped, the air turning sharp for a second before depressing once more.

 

Chanyeol looked up, sliding Kris’ hand down. “You think it’s too late?”

 

“No.” Sehun answered, immediately. Sehun’s eyes were sharp, his fists clenched into balls at his side, and Chanyeol knew Sehun meant it. “It’s not too late. But I wish we told him before.”

 

“He knew.”

 

“Doesn’t matter.”

 

\--

 

Minseok leaned over to slide blonde strands away from Kris’ closed eyes. “His hair’s grown really long, huh. Maybe we should get Zitao to cut it.”

 

Jongdae snorted. “Are you telling me that you forgot what happened the last time Zitao tried to cut your hair?”

 

“That was once!” Zitao complained. “I cut hair well, okay?”

 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. It’d been three months, since they’d brought Kris back, and Kris hadn’t woken once. Hadn’t moved. His temperature was still low, and his pulse still slow, but he was alive. Had been. “It’s been growing for three months, of course it’s long.”

 

Yixing had concluded that Kris just needed a lot of time to heal. A long, long time. He was growing thin, but his body didn’t refuse any of the liquids Kyungsoo whipped up, so they were keeping him sustained. Now that his wounds had been healed and he was clean of all dirt and blood, he looked like he was just sleeping. Peacefully.

 

Sehun and Chanyeol still spent most of the time in the infirmary, but they didn’t let it consume their lives anymore. They went out on raids, although never together because Suho had an unspoken rule where one would always stay with Kris, and helped around on base.

 

Raids were becoming less and less frequent, something that happened, Chanyeol assumed, because no one was as willing to fight them now that they knew their full power. Kris slept on, oblivious to everything that was happening. Sometimes, Chanyeol curled a hand over Kris’ stomach, tracing where the scar was burned into his head. It wasn’t visible anymore – Yixing had taken care of that – but Chanyeol could see the jagged tear, blood oozing slowly from it as Kris’s hand pressed against it.

 

He pushed the thought away and instead focused on Kris, letting himself lulled by Minseok’s and Jongdae’s and Zitao’s chatter. Kris’ hair _was_ getting long. Chanyeol had thought the blonde had been dyed, especially since the crown of Kris’ head had been dark, but apparently that was just how his hair grew. Dark at first but lighter as it grew. He reached up to play with it, and Jongdae nudged him. “Earth to Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol blinked. “Huh?”

 

Zitao snorted. “You and Sehun are so alike. So into Kris that you can’t tell what’s going on around you.” He lifted a strand of Kris’ hair. “Can you imagine what this would look like, in the sunlight?”

 

“He doesn’t have to imagine.” Sehun said, walking into the infirmary. “We’ve seen it when we snuck him out. It looks golden.”

 

\--

 

Suho made plans to move. “Above ground,” he explained. “We don’t have anything to be afraid of anymore. We’ll have layers of protection. We’ve always depended on Kyungsoo, but there’s no reason to have the burden fall on him. Plus, the sun’ll be good for everyone. We’ll make our own paradise. We’ve got the powers to do it.”

 

So Chanyeol went aboveground and let the earth burn. They first needed to clear an area, and they couldn’t with all the trash and the debris of the war basically covering the earth. Chanyeol was the only one that had the power to literally make everything to ashes, so here he was. Kyungsoo supervised to make sure the fire didn’t spread too far. “Smells like crap.” Kyungsoo said, drawing a scarf over his mouth and nose.

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “It _is_ burning rubber and other stuff that smells bad when they’re burned.”

 

Kyungsoo watched the fire for a while, fanning his face. “I never knew your fire could burn hot enough to melt metal and then evaporate it.”

 

Chanyeol shrugged again. “I didn’t know, either. Never really tried.” He watched Kyungsoo fan his face again. “Sorry, it’s kind of getting hot, huh.”

 

“It’s okay. I gotta make sure you aren’t overdoing anything or charring the earth dead. Suho wants to plant stuff. Get a creek running through so our fish can have more room to swim around and stuff. Have room our boar can run around in.” Kyungsoo paused. “Have room for Kris’ kids to run around in.”

 

Chanyeol flinched. “You think he’ll ever be ready for that?”

 

“He wants kids. I know he does. He probably won’t be able to handle it for a while, but I have faith in you and Sehun.” Kyungsoo snickered. “How’s that working out, anyway? Is Sehun going to win, or are you?”

 

“Kyungsoo, don’t be stupid.”

 

“Or maybe you two could share Kris? I don’t think he’d mind. In fact, he’d probably like-“

 

“ _Kyungsoo_.”

 

\--

 

They’d really come a long way. Kyungsoo joking around about Sehun and Chanyeol having a ménage à trois with Kris didn’t even feel blasphemous – just felt like normal conversation. Kyungsoo continued to joke about it over the three days that Chanyeol spent clearing a large area.

 

After that, Kyungsoo and Suho spent a few days shaping the landscape, putting in a creek like Suho wanted, rolling in a hill and putting in natural barriers for the boar. The fish and the boar got moved to the creek-pond combination and the boar seemed to like the bigger arrangements with sun better.

 

Yixing and Luhan took care of the plants. Luhan went searching in the mountains for flowers, carefully carving them out of the ground with his telekinesis like no other could. Chanyeol hadn’t seen _flowers_ in forever, but Luhan had managed to find enough for a small garden as Yixing sprinkled lawn grass seeds they’d found in a hardware store. Yixing wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded in blowing life back into them or not, but they’d decided they’d never know until they tried.

 

A month rolled by as they solidified the new grounds for base, leaving a large area open in the middle so Kyungsoo could bring their underground quarters up. “Okay,” Suho said, grinning as he looked over the grass (it had worked). “I think we can bring it up.”

 

Chanyeol went back to the infirmary to sit next to Kris. The curtains were drawn back, so he could watch the earth crumble away as Kyungsoo raised the base, so smooth Chanyeol wouldn’t have known it was happening if he wasn’t watching the sunlight start filtering in past the windows. Jongdae and Jongin had spent all of the morning unbolting the windows in preparation, so Chanyeol walked over and let the breeze in.

 

It was a real breeze, not Sehun’s breeze. It smelled like flowers and grass, and he could hear the creek trickling if he strained his ears. “Now,” Chanyeol said, sitting back next to Kris and taking his hand so he could kiss each knuckle. “Now, all that’s left is for you to wake up.”

 

\--

 

“This is actually pretty damn fantastic,” Jongdae said, whistling lightly as he looked out the window of the infirmary. “It’s like we’re a whole different world here. I’m pretty impressed at ourselves.”

 

Sehun nodded, rubbing Kris’ wrist. Yet another two weeks had passed, and Kris showed no signs of ever waking up. But none of them were in a hurry. Everyone dropped by at least once every day to talk to Kris, and usually they found themselves hanging out most of their free time in the infirmary. Suho didn’t bother using the common area for meetings anymore – everyone was always at the infirmary anyway.

 

Suho was talking about spreading their area a little bit. Chanyeol held Kris’ left hand in his and Sehun had his right. Chanyeol frowned, wondering if he’d imagined the small twitch. But Sehun was frowning, and their eyes met. “Did you..”

 

“Yeah.” Sehun scrambled out of his seat, and Chanyeol realized the room had fallen silent and rest had stood up.

 

Suho rushed to their side, his eyes wide, gripping the headrest. “You’re sure?”

 

Luhan jumped to Chanyeol’s side, yanking Yixing over. Yixing leaned over to feel Kris’ forehead, and Kris’ brows scrunched lightly and he whined quietly.

 

“Oh my god,” Minseok breathed. “It’s really happening, isn’t it?” Zitao shushed him, eyes wide.

 

Chanyeol gripped Kris’ hand tighter, and his hand twitched again. Kris’ lips trembled and his eyelids flutterd. “Ow…”

 

“Oh, god.” Minseok said, again. “Oh, god, oh god. Kris. Chanyeol, Sehun, you’re _hurting_ him.”

 

Chanyeol relaxed his grip immediately but didn’t let go, and Suho knelt, brushing blonde hair from Kris’ face before cupping a cheek. “Hey,” Suho said. “Hey, Kris.”

 

Kris eyes blinked, unfocused for a second, and Chanyeol felt his blood ice, wondering if Yixing hadn’t been able to fix his ears and eyes, after all. But Kris blinked again, his eyes coming into focus, and Chanyeol found himself laughing. “Kris.” He said, realizing he was crying and laughing at the same time. “ _Kris_.”

 

“Hey,” Kris croaked, voice barely a whisper. “I can see.”

 

“Yixing fixed it.” Jongin said, smiling warmly. “How’s your hearing?”

 

Kris looked like something had occurred to him. “It was you.” He said, trying to reach for Jongin. Chanyeol let his hand go. “You were there. With Chanyeol.”

 

Jongin grinned. “Yeah, that was me.” He took Kris’ hand and rubbed it before letting Chanyeol have Kris’ hand again.. “Sorry I scared you.”

 

Jongdae and Yixing propped pillows behind him. Yixing asked gently, “How are you feeling?” His hands gently rubbed at Kris’ skin, checking for fever and any other anomalies. “You want some water?” Kris shook his head, looking up at Chanyeol and Sehun. Yixing smiled. “Should we leave the three of you alone?”

 

“No.” Kris said, voice rising to a panic. When Suho’s brows furrowed in concern, his voice got softer. “Please stay. All of you.”  

 

Sehun rose and pressed a kiss to Kris’ forehead. “Whatever you want, Kris,” he said, pressing another kiss onto his nose. “Whatever you want.”

 

\--

 

“Soooo,” Zitao grinned, and Chanyeol braced himself for whatever was coming. “How do you feel about Sehun kissing Kris before you did?”

 

Chanyeol flushed a bright red. “This isn’t a competition.”

 

Zitao’s grin turned sly. “Of course it is. And he kissed Kris before you did. I guess you can still go for his lips, though…”

 

Chanyeol groaned, lighting the fireplace that had been purely for decoration before. Luhan suddenly wanted to use it, so he and Zitao were trying to clean out the stuffed chimney. “Zitao, stop. Neither of us are going to do that to Kris as soon as he wakes up. He still needs time to recover. And he keeps hugging his stomach.” And crying when he thought no one was watching, but he didn’t feel the need to tell Zitao that.

 

Zitao faltered. “…You had to bring that up.” He said, sullen. “I was just joking around.”

 

Chanyeol rubbed his face, forgetting his gloves were covered in soot. Why were he and Zitao working on this, anyway? Couldn’t Luhan have cleared this thing up easier with his telekinesis? “I know. Sorry. I’m just… I don’t know how to make him feel better.”

 

Zitao was quiet. He squatted, poking at the debris that had fallen out of the fireplace. “You should talk to him about it. You ignore the wound and cover it up, it’s going to get infected and fester. Just going to get worse. You have to actually look at it to heal it. You let him know he’s got you. He’s got Sehun. He’s got me. He’s got _all_ of us. And that everything will be okay.”

 

\--

 

Zitao, for the crybaby he was, had strangely mature advice sometimes, so Chanyeol took it. He waited until Yixing had retired for the night and the only people in the infirmary were him and Sehun and Kris. Kris was looking outside the window at the moon, stroking his stomach absently. Chanyeol took his hand. “Hey.” He said, and Kris looked at him. Kris still couldn’t do much with solid food, so he was only drinking the shakes Kyungsoo made him. It wasn’t doing much for his weight, Chanyeol stared sadly at the thin wrists.

 

“Chanyeol?” Kris said, his voice quiet.

 

Chanyeol moved to the bed, and Sehun closed the book he was reading. Chanyeol knew that if he looked, Sehun would have a frown on his face. “Let’s talk about it.” Kris’ gaze shook, and Chanyeol held his hand tight. “Let’s talk about the baby, Kris.”

 

Sehun rose and came to sit on the other side of the bed. Chanyeol half thought he might be stopped from talking about it, but Sehun said, “He’s right. You can’t just bottle it up.” When Kris dropped his gaze, Sehun gently said, “Don’t think we don’t know you cry at night, when you think we’re asleep?”

Kris flinched at that, but Chanyeol moved so he was behind him, holding him from the back. He wrapped his arms around Kris, spreading his hands on Kris’ stomach. “I can’t dare to say I know how you feel. I can’t even imagine all the pain you were in every time your child was torn away from you. But while you were here, when you were here with us, we watched the baby grow together. It was _our_ child, too. All of us looked forward to it. All of us loved it. I can’t say I feel your pain, Kris. But I do share it. We all do.”

 

Kris was trembling in his hold. “It’s okay to cry,” Sehun whispered, moving closer so they were encasing Kris in their arms. Not trapping him, just holding him. “It’s okay.”

 

\--

 

Kris cried himself to sleep that night, and Chanyeol woke up tangled in the sheets, his arms still around Kris’ waist, Kris pulled tightly against him. Sehun had one arm tucked under Kris’ head and his other hand rested on his hip.

 

Yixing was, Chanyeol realized, in the room. As were Kyungsoo and Suho. And all three looked highly amused. Yixing was trying to hide it, busying himself with cleaning the infirmary, but Kyungsoo and Suho made no attempts to hide it. “So,” Kyungsoo said, eyebrow raised. “You decided to share, after all?”

 

Suho snickered and then attempted to stifle it, trying to pull on a stern face. “Kyungsoo, don’t be stupid.” He crossed his arms. “It looks like the two of you made him cry.”

 

“Uh,” Chanyeol said, wishing Sehun had woken up instead of him. He tried to untangle his arms from around Kris, but Kris whined, and he stopped. Kyungsoo’s grin got wider and Suho snickered again before attempting to stifle it again. “Sehun,” Chanyeol hissed, reaching to yank on Sehun’s shirt.

 

Sehun woke blearily, looked at Kyungsoo and Suho, and closed his eyes again. “Go away.” He tugged closer to Kris, nuzzling his face into Kris’ shoulder.

 

Great, Chanyeol thought, looking up to see Kyungsoo’s grin widening even further. He buried his face in Kris’ blonde hair, and heard Suho chuckle.

 

\--

 

He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he woke up again, and then realized there was a change of position. He was no longer snuggling into Kris. He was still on the bed, but Kris seemed to have sat up. He was still holding onto Kris’ waist, except now his head was resting on Kris’ stomach and his legs were tangled with Kris’. Sehun was reading lowly, and there was a hand resting on his head.

 

He looked up and Kris smiled at him. Sehun nodded at him, pausing for a moment to do so, and then continued reading. “How long was I asleep?” Chanyeol asked, rubbing his eyes. He sat up, careful not to hit Kris as he stretched.

 

“Sehun said Kyungsoo and Suho were making fun of you.” Kris chuckled, resting his hand on top of Chanyeol’s head. It was a comforting weight, and Chanyeol leaned to rest his head on Kris’ stomach again. Kris’s hand stroked his hair, the pressure gentle.

 

Sehun closed the book and flicked Chanyeol’s forehead. “Are you a kid?”

 

Chanyeol stuck his tongue out and Sehun rolled his eyes. He hugged Kris tighter and Kris coughed lightly. He released arms right away and shot up, his head coming into contact with Kris’ chin in his hurry. “Ow, fuck.” Chanyeol said. “Are you – are you okay?!”

Sehun had shot up in alarm, but Kris was laughing, even as he rubbed his chin. It was, Chanyeol thought, the first time he’d heard Kris laugh. Judging by Sehun’s look, he was correct. Kris couldn’t stop laughing, and Sehun raised an eyebrow. “You’ve messed up his brain or something.”

 

“Shut up.” Chanyeol said, although there was no heat behind it. He was grinning too hard. “You’re okay?”

 

Kris rubbed his eyes where he’d started to tear up from laughing too hard. “Yeah.” He chuckled, and then fanned his face to make himself stop. “I – I’ve never laughed so hard. I don’t even know why. Sorry.”

 

“No, no, it’s okay.” Chanyeol said, feeling his smile spread. “That’s perfectly fine. Laugh more. It’s good.”

 

“As long as you’re laughing at Chanyeol,” Sehun added, rolling his eyes. “Your chin’s really okay?” He slid back on the bed, taking Kris by his cheeks to check. It was a little red, but he seemed otherwise fine. Sehun snorted in exasperation before smiling, leaning forward to press another kiss to Kris’ nose.

 

Kris was slightly blushing when Sehun pulled back, and Chanyeol acted without thinking. He grabbed Kris’ cheeks and pulled him forward, catching him on the mouth. Kris made a noise of surprise, but he didn’t resis, so Chanyeol pressed forward, pressing his tongue into Kris’ mouth. He got as far as tracing Kris’ teeth with his tongue before he was pulled back by the back of his shirt. Sehun glared and Chanyeol glared right back as Kris fanned his face, blushing brightly but smiling.

 

\--

 

“I think the two of you constantly fighting for his attention is taking his mind off things.” Jongin snorted, once Kris had fallen asleep. Kris had moved back to the room he shared with Chanyeol, and Sehun almost always was in their room as well. Kris had a habit of hugging Suho’s one-eared bear to sleep (it was something Suho took pride in), and he was currently curled under the duvet on his side, the bear tucked under his chin.

 

“That’s a _good_ thing. Why aren’t you two back in your own room, anyway?” Chanyeol grumbled, glaring at Sehun.

 

Sehun laughed. “Yeah, good try. Like I’m going to give you that chance.”

 

Jongin shrugged. “I’m just bored by myself. Plus, this is fun to watch.”

 

But the fact of the matter was, Sehun and Chanyeol fighting for Kris’ attention _was_ taking his mind off things. He was still plagued by nightmares that made him cry out, whimpering until Sehun and Chanyeol could talk him awake. But they’d decreased significantly. And Sehun and Chanyeol didn’t give Kris a chance to spend time looking out the window at the sun, rubbing his fingers on his stomach. Every time he looked down, Chanyeol would jump up, grabbing Suho’s bear to cuddle with Kris. If Chanyeol wasn’t available, Sehun would climb up onto Kris’ bed and snake an arm around his waist, holding a book in the other hand to quietly read aloud to him.

 

And, of course, their not-too-discreet battle to kiss him as much as possible helped. Chanyeol didn’t know who had the higher count, especially since he kept peppering Kris with kisses every time Sehun wasn’t around. He didn’t feel like Sehun was the type to be like him, but he’d once caught Sehun pressing his lips to the crown of Kris’ head when Kris had fallen asleep against his shoulder, angle awkward because Kris was so much taller.

 

It _did_ stand, though, that Kris hadn’t kissed either of them first. Chanyeol asked if Kris felt burdened by them. “You can refuse us if you want to, you know. I mean, we’d be pretty sad, but I’d be sadder if you were just letting us do this.”

 

Kris blushed a bright red at that, fanning his face and muttered, “No, that’s not – I like you both, too. I just don’t know – I mean, which – which one…”

 

Chanyeol started to laugh so hard in glee that Sehun kicked him off the bed. He rolled around the floor, laughing in relief and just total happiness. When he managed to get back up on the bed, he noticed Sehun was failing to keep his smile off his face as well. Chanyeol leaned forward to press a kiss on Kris’ lips and nibbled on his bottom lip. “You don’t have to choose, you know. We could just have a weird relationship like this, the three of us.”

 

Kris fidgeted, playing with the one ear on the doll, and then leaned forward faster than Chanyeol could react, pecking him lightly on the lips and then turning to Sehun to do the same.

 

Chanyeol started to laugh so hard again that Sehun tried to kick him off the bed, but he threw his arms around Kris’ shoulders, pressing his lips onto Kris’ lips. Sehun sighed in exasperation but soon chuckled, tucking an arm around Kris and pressing his lips onto the crown of his head.

 

\--

 

“You’re kind of acting like an idiot,” Baekhyun told him. “Like someone with a screw loose. You _and_ Sehun, actually. Did I tell you I found Sehun sitting on the roof grinning like an idiot? He tried to wipe the smile off when he saw me but _that_ failed.”

 

Chanyeol grinned and Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. “Life is pretty good. It’s great. Amazing, actually.”

 

“Okay, you have to tell me what happened. Why are you two suddenly walking around like Kris suddenly confessed his undying love for both of you?” Baekhyun paused, his eyes wide. “Wait, that’s not what he actually did, right? Because I’m pretty sure Minseok was joking when he kept saying you two should share. Actually I’m about 40% sure. Maybe like 25%.”

 

Chanyeol shrugged, weeding the flower garden. It was flourishing pretty well under Suho and Zitao’s care. “Don’t be stupid. He just kissed us, that’s all.”

 

“ _Both_ of you? Because that’s still weird.”

 

Chanyeol just grinned in response, humming to a song he couldn’t even remember the title of, and Baekhyun threw a fistful of dirt at him.

 

\--

 

Suho sat both Sehun and Chanyeol while Yixing did his weekly checkup of Kris. “I need to know what both of you are doing.” Sehun raised an eyebrow, and Chanyeol frowned. Suho sighed. “I don’t doubt that both of you have pretty deep feelings for Kris, but you also have to realize our point of view that… it’s not exactly normal.”

 

Minseok plopped down by Suho’s side, swirling ice in his cup of water. He didn’t say anything, just sipped on his cup as Suho continued his speech. At the end, he finally spoke up to say, “I say go for it.”

 

Suho flinched and turned to Minseok. “ _Minseok._ ”

 

Minseok shrugged. “Why not? You want us to conform to societal norms, Suho? We aren’t exactly normal here. I think with all he’s been through, Kris deserves double the love anyone else gets. Triple. Quadruple. He’s been through a lot. You’re going to let society’s judgment keep happiness away from him? When society already threw us away? It didn’t just throw him away. It tore his life out. Kris deserves however much he can get. Listen, Sehun, Chanyeol. I wasn’t completely joking when I said you two should share.” He stood, sipping the last of his water. He flicked a piece of ice to both their foreheads. “Just do him justice, will you?” He smirked, throwing an arm over Suho’s shoulders before he turned to leave. “If you two mess up, Suho’s going to be there to cut in.”

 

“What? I – Minseok, that’s not even the point of this.” Suho called after Minseok’s retreating back. He sighed, turning back to Sehun and Chanyeol. He leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. He stared at the pair in silence for a while before finally concluding, “Okay. I can’t say Minseok’s wrong, especially after he put it like that…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Just… Just be careful.”

 

\--

 

“He’s kind of been super tired lately,” Chanyeol told Yixing the next week. “Sleeping most of the time.”

 

Yixing frowned lightly, squatting a little. “You feeling tired?” Kris nodded hesitantly, like he was still afraid of admitting he was feeling off. Sehun tousled his blonde locks and rubbed his cheek reassuringly. “Maybe you caught something? I told you not to leave the window open for too long. The air outside is still pretty polluted, especially up where we don’t have the plants to filter.”

 

Sehun frowned. “I filter the air going in through our room. He can’t have caught it. And Chanyeol keeps the room warm.”

 

Yixing paused. “Is _that_ why the air in your room feels different from everyone else’s?” He sounded amused. “I should have expected. Kris, have you been sneaking out by yourself at night? You know you can’t go out yet, right?”

 

Kris flushed a deep red. “I can’t go out at night even if I want to.”

 

Sehun nodded, and before Chanyeol could stop him, he said, “We get him pretty tired out. I don’t know if he could get his legs to work after he’s dealt with-” Chanyeol clapped a hand over Sehun’s mouth.

 

Yixing flushed a deep red. “Okay, okay.” He paused. “Wait, you three are having intercourse regularly?” He stood up straighter and smiled a little. “Kris, could you be with child, maybe?” Sehun stopped trying to tug Chanyeol’s hand from his lips and Chanyeol’s mouth fell slack. Kris’ eyes were wide. Yixing smiled, reaching up to the cabinet and digging through. “You three don’t use any condoms, right? Have you been taking other measures to prevent it?” He pulled out a box and handed it to Kris. “They’re pregnancy tests. I had the others go look for some when they went on that pharmacy raid last month, just in case. They’re for women, but it should work more or less the same.”

 

Kris stared at the box, eyes wide. “I don’t – I don’t know how they work.”

 

Yixing pushed Sehun and Chanyeol on the bed before they could say anything. “Of course. I’ll help you out.”

 

\--

 

Ten minutes later, Sehun and Chanyeol had paced back and forth the infirmary floors at least a hundred times.

 

Baekhyun groaned. “You’re making me dizzy. Just _sit down_. All that pacing isn’t going to make time go faster.”

 

“I’m going to stop time on you.” Zitao threatened, “So we all find out before you two do, unless you _stop pacing_.”

 

That made Sehun and Chanyeol freeze in place. But before they could explode, Yixing came out of the bathroom, grinning widely with a blushing Kris in tow. Kris was holding three different sticks in his hand. “So?” Suho prompted, rising from his seat. “What’s the diagnosis?”

 

Yixing looked expectantly at Kris, who stared at the tests before quietly announcing, “Positive.”

 

Chanyeol ran to tackle Kris to the ground in a hug, but he found himself running headfirst into a slab of ice. “Ow.” He said, rubbing his nose. “Minseok, what the hell?”

 

Minseok rolled his eyes. “You have to be _careful_ around him now. No more tackling or squeezing his middle or anything. Language, too.”

 

Yixing nodded, pushing a trashcan over so Kris could drop the tests in it. “Minseok’s right. Especially in the first three months. Kris has gone through a lot during his pregnancies already. I might have healed him, but his body’ll still remember the trauma.”

 

Sehun nodded, kneeling down to the ground to carefully spread his hands on Kris’ middle. “Okay,” he said, tugging Kris closer so he could rest his forehead on Kris’ stomach. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

 

Chanyeol walked through the ice slab, letting his fire melt him through and squatted next to Sehun, placing his hand on the still-flat stomach. He knew it was impossible, yet, but he felt like he could feel the throb of a life under the skin.

 

“And,” Luhan said, snickering lightly, “whose kid is it? Sehun’s or Chanyeol’s?”

 

\--

 

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol said, tugging Kris’ hand close. Kris had been quiet since he’d found out, eyes hidden under long bangs. He hadn’t bothered to cut it even after he’d woken up and he usually kept his hair tied back in a ponytail. He had a bad habit of hiding behind his bangs when he was troubled by something, although Chanyeol hadn’t seen the habit for a while. “Hey, Kris. What’s wrong?”

 

Kris bit his lip, gingerly running his fingers over his stomach. “I’ve never carried a child to term. What if – what if I can’t? Yixing said my body’ll remember the trauma. What if – what if my body just…”

 

Sehun cut him off, pressing a firm kiss to his lips. “Don’t say that. Don’t think bad things. Of course this kid will be okay. Of course you’ll be okay. You’ve got us. _All_ of us. We’re not going to let anything go wrong. We already made that mistake once. It’s not going to happen again.”

 

Kris hung his head, his bangs hanging low once again. “But… but what if...”

 

Chanyeol pressed a kiss on Kris’ hand. “Sehun’s right. Don’t think of bad things. Come on, Kris. Look at me.” He grinned up at Kris when Kris raised his head a little. He kept grinning until Kris smiled uncertainly back. “There we go. Everything’s going to be fine. If this kid takes after either one of us, it’s going to be a persistent little brat. The persistence will come from me. The brat part comes from Sehun.”

 

Sehun clonked him on the head. “I think you’ve got it backwards. _You_ would be where the brat part comes from.”

 

Kris snorted, shaking his head exasperatedly. “You two.” He smiled a little more confidently. “You think it’ll have genes from both of you?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, I know that’s not how biology works, but that’s how it’ll work for us.” He grinned and rubbed his face onto Kris’ stomach, careful not to be too rough. “We’ll _make_ the world conform around us. Screw its original rules.”

 

Kris laughed. “I don’t know if that’s how it works.”

 

Sehun leaned back, agreeing with Chanyeol for the first time. “That’s how it’ll work for us.” He then paused and flicked Chanyeol on the head again, just for the heck of it.

 


End file.
